Saturday, January 31, 2004

Arab-American Political Action Committee Endorses Dennis Kucinich"It was not a strategy endorsement, it was an endorsement of principle.The argument we had yesterday was should we stand by our principles or cast a vote based on electability. But this was a group that voted for (President) Bush in 2000 and were stung by the Bush administration. They decided that they needed to make it clear that this community will vote for the candidate that best represents its interests, not necessarily the one that may be elected."--Osama Siblani, editor-in-chief of The Arab-American News.

"Today, I am proud of our President. He has said we are at war with terrorism and with states that sponsor and harbor terrorists. I agree with that. But let's face it - that means an ever-increasing, wider war.
And as far as I'm concerned, it means at some time going after Saddam Hussein.
We don't have to prove he was involved with September 11 or with Al Qaeda. We know he hates the United States. We know he has weapons of mass destruction..."

Let's face it, unfaithful Democrat, you were duped.

In fairness to Zell, I appreciate these words from the same speech:

"It is a system that Cuisinarts individual thought into a blind party goose step. A system that expects one to go along with the team even if the quarterback is calling the wrong signals.
And one of these days someone smarter and younger and more articulate than I is going to get through to the American people just how really messed up it has become.
And when that happens, the American people are going to rise up like that football crowd in Cleveland and run both teams off the field.
Because as Churchill said, "Democracy is based on reason and a sense of fair play" and there is nothing reasonable or fair about this system.

And yet...Zell's reasoning totally collapsed when he threw his 2004 endorsement to Bush. A person can have wise ideas, yet not have the common sense to understand how to create conditions under which the ideas can flourish. With his endorsement of Bush, possibly the worst divider in Presidential history, Zell perpetuates the problem and betrays the very independent thinker he claims to be. He betrays all Americans by promising more of that which he claims to abhor.

Intelligence sources, policy makers and weapons inspectors familiar with the details of the hunt for WMD told The Observer it was widely known that Iraq had no WMD within three weeks of Baghdad falling, despite the assertions of senior Bush administration figures and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The new revelation came as White House sources indicated that President George Bush was considering establishing an investigation into the intelligence, despite rejecting an inquiry the previous day.(hmmm...)

In a series of interviews, senior former US intelligence officers, members of the weapons community and former senior US policy advisers have told The Observer that it was well known in intelligence and senior administration circles by the first week of May that it was extremely unlikely that any weapons would be found. The allegations pose serious questions for Downing Street and the Prime Minister, raising the possibility that Blair and his officials began their feud with the BBC and Andrew Gilligan after it had become known that the intelligence used to justify Britain's involvement in the war was largely incorrect.....why did Bush and Blair press on for months with their insistence that the WMD existed, after it was clear that the intelligence was hugely flawed?
...'What is so remarkable is that it became very quickly apparent in the post-war interviews with scientists and other officials, that no one even admitted that even plans such as those existed.....
"'I know for certain that there were analysts in the Defence Intelligence Agency and the State Department and the CIA who took an alternative point of view. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and ultimately George Bush chose to ignore their cautions. Worst-case scenarios were being taken by policy makers who were picking and choosing intelligence."
--Larry Johnson, former CIA anti-terrorism expert

In this same time our lord shewed to me a ghostly sight of his homely loveing. I saw that he is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us. He is our clotheine that for love wrappith us,(halseth) us and all beclosyth us for tender love, that hee may never leave us, being to us althing that is gode, as to myne understondyng. Also in this he shewed a littil thing, the quantitye of an hesil nutt in the palme of my hand; and it was as round as a balle.
I lokid thereupon with eye of my understondyng and thowte:
"What may this be?"
And it was generally answered thus:
"It is all that is made."

The panel faces a May 27 deadline. It wants two more months to complete its work but faces resistance from House GOP leaders and the Bush administration. They fear the process could become too politicized if it's released in the days near the November elections.

People like my mother and Judy Dean stand in stark contrast to our national obsession with consumption. Our "Supersize Me!" society has so elevated the manufactured over the meaningful that when somebody dares question the value of our collective covetousness we react like they've impugned the legitimacy of the sacred scrolls of the scriptures.
In their rejection of our fixation on the fashionable, these anti-Trumps suddenly become the little boy pointing out that despite our designer clothes, top of the line SUVs, and plasma TVs, we're really just a bunch of emperors in expensive birthday suits, trying unsuccessfully to buy our way to happiness.....

...Consumer debt is at an all-time high as are the number of people filing for bankruptcy.....
Of course, this culture-wide shopping spree is happening on the watch of our conservative leaders. Conservatism is supposed to stand in clear counterpoint to the excesses of the counterculture -- with responsibility, self-discipline, and living within one's means replacing the "if it feels good, do it" ethos. But George Bush and his corporate cronies have sacrificed these values on the altar of consumption: "If it feels good, buy it!"

...What also struck me about the not very thingy Judy Dean was the sense of contentment and comfort she radiated with who she is -- and who she isn't.

...she'd make one hell of a First Lady.... I would love to have a very different kind of role model front and center in the national spotlight. One who loves her job, puts her family first, doesn't equate split ends with mortal failure, doesn't mind getting a rhododendron for her birthday, and doesn't even have cable TV.

...America's credibility has been badly damaged — and nobody is being held accountable. But that's standard operating procedure. As far as I can tell, nobody in the Bush administration has ever paid a price for being wrong. Instead, people are severely punished for telling inconvenient truths. And administration officials have consistently sought to freeze out, undermine or intimidate anyone who might try to check up on their performance....
....These people politicize everything, from military planning to scientific assessments. If you're with them, you pay no penalty for being wrong. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, you're an enemy, and being right is no excuse.
-Still, the big story isn't about Mr. Bush; it's about what's happening to America. Other presidents would have liked to bully the C.I.A., stonewall investigations and give huge contracts to their friends without oversight. They knew, however, that they couldn't. What has gone wrong with our country that allows this president to get away with such things?

Here's my take. No one is fired from this Administration because once they're let go, they'll sing like birds about the shady doings within the White House. They might even reveal, as Paul O'Neill did, that the Emperor has no brains clothes.

Jude Says..

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About Me

Iddybud is a descendant of American patriots, membership to DAR pending, a descendant of a family member who lost another dubious American Presidential election in 1876, so you might understand why she took Selection 2000 to heart.

desiderata - by max ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920